Ok, so I was recently checking out some game ratings in web sites. And one I was most curious about was the soccer game match up. Pro Evolution Soccer 14 and FIFA Soccer 14. The eternal rivalry between Konami and EA. Now, both of these games present new and better qualities against their predecessors (PES 13 and FIFA 13 respectively).
I won't be covering any of these differences in my review, for two reasons. One, because they seem too complicated and two, because I never played either PES '13 or FIFA '13. Instead, this article will be about my comparison between the two newly released titles. I downloaded and played both games today on the PS3.
I started with Pro Evolution Soccer 14. I was anxiously waiting for this game to download, considering this is the soccer game series I had been following since High-School (so, pretty much since release). The one thing that always bugged me about this game was the lack of official team licenses. That was an issue in this year's edition as well. You cannot expect to release a successful soccer game when you don't include in it the runner-ups of last season's UEFA Champions League (I am talking about BVB Borussia Dortmund).
So, that sort of started me off bad, but that had always been an issue with PES and yet, it always managed to get more support than FIFA because of its gameplay. I decided to give the game a go and emphasize on that. The last PES I had played was 2012, and when I started playing '14's demo, it sort of felt even weaker than that! The crowd was like a bunch of inflatable arm-waving tube men, the players were extremely hard to control, the commentary was making it painfully obvious that you're in an artificial environment...
It seems everything had been taken down a notch from the last time I played a PES game! In the end, it would take me a good while to learn how to actually play this game, but it did nothing to make me invest that time in it. Disappointing, would be a proper word for this. The only truly enjoyable things about it were the official UEFA Champions League graphics and style that make it seem like you're actually watching a game on TV.
Then I went on to FIFA, not expecting much. The thing with FIFA, back in the old days was that it was always extremely easy. That's why no one wanted to play it. Anyway, going into this demo, I noticed the menus and the graphics were very sharp and nicely shaped! It immediately drew my attention. The one thing that put me off a bit was the unnecessary complexity of the menus. But, at the end of the day, if you just want to go and play a friendly match, you can just choose that. And when you're ready to explore the rest of the choices this game has to offer you, you can. This game (or this demo, at least) was very user-friendly. Before you went into it, it asked how good you are with soccer games and how you use your controller (those who are used to playing PES use the square button for shooting and the circle button for crossing and vice-versa for FIFA players). The game actually fixes the buttons for you so that they better suit your style before you even start playing.
Now, while I was going around the games' sub-menus, I was kinda "forced" into this "Ultimate Team" match, so I decided to have a go at it. Even though the teams weren't of my choosing, I found myself absorbed by the game soon enough! The crowd is lively and actually reacts to whatever is going on in the pitch, the players interact with each other nicely, whether in-game or out (it's nice to see them having little chats during the half-time break) and even the replays work nicely! Commentary is top notch and the stadiums look alive. I tried to play again, this time with Barca vs AC Milan to see how it is. Barcelona's style of play actually comes out during play. The many passes, the ball possession, the pressure to the opponent... It was like being a part of a Barcelona game.
The decision was an easy one this year. After a long time, FIFA's back in the lead! And considering you can actually use players and teams from over 30 leagues across the world, I'd say it was about time!
I won't be covering any of these differences in my review, for two reasons. One, because they seem too complicated and two, because I never played either PES '13 or FIFA '13. Instead, this article will be about my comparison between the two newly released titles. I downloaded and played both games today on the PS3.
I started with Pro Evolution Soccer 14. I was anxiously waiting for this game to download, considering this is the soccer game series I had been following since High-School (so, pretty much since release). The one thing that always bugged me about this game was the lack of official team licenses. That was an issue in this year's edition as well. You cannot expect to release a successful soccer game when you don't include in it the runner-ups of last season's UEFA Champions League (I am talking about BVB Borussia Dortmund).
So, that sort of started me off bad, but that had always been an issue with PES and yet, it always managed to get more support than FIFA because of its gameplay. I decided to give the game a go and emphasize on that. The last PES I had played was 2012, and when I started playing '14's demo, it sort of felt even weaker than that! The crowd was like a bunch of inflatable arm-waving tube men, the players were extremely hard to control, the commentary was making it painfully obvious that you're in an artificial environment...
It seems everything had been taken down a notch from the last time I played a PES game! In the end, it would take me a good while to learn how to actually play this game, but it did nothing to make me invest that time in it. Disappointing, would be a proper word for this. The only truly enjoyable things about it were the official UEFA Champions League graphics and style that make it seem like you're actually watching a game on TV.
Then I went on to FIFA, not expecting much. The thing with FIFA, back in the old days was that it was always extremely easy. That's why no one wanted to play it. Anyway, going into this demo, I noticed the menus and the graphics were very sharp and nicely shaped! It immediately drew my attention. The one thing that put me off a bit was the unnecessary complexity of the menus. But, at the end of the day, if you just want to go and play a friendly match, you can just choose that. And when you're ready to explore the rest of the choices this game has to offer you, you can. This game (or this demo, at least) was very user-friendly. Before you went into it, it asked how good you are with soccer games and how you use your controller (those who are used to playing PES use the square button for shooting and the circle button for crossing and vice-versa for FIFA players). The game actually fixes the buttons for you so that they better suit your style before you even start playing.
Now, while I was going around the games' sub-menus, I was kinda "forced" into this "Ultimate Team" match, so I decided to have a go at it. Even though the teams weren't of my choosing, I found myself absorbed by the game soon enough! The crowd is lively and actually reacts to whatever is going on in the pitch, the players interact with each other nicely, whether in-game or out (it's nice to see them having little chats during the half-time break) and even the replays work nicely! Commentary is top notch and the stadiums look alive. I tried to play again, this time with Barca vs AC Milan to see how it is. Barcelona's style of play actually comes out during play. The many passes, the ball possession, the pressure to the opponent... It was like being a part of a Barcelona game.
The decision was an easy one this year. After a long time, FIFA's back in the lead! And considering you can actually use players and teams from over 30 leagues across the world, I'd say it was about time!
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